Hello!  I'm Diana Stallings, a Board Chair for the Deaf Ministry of the Diocese of Joliet.  I'm proud to announce that the Diocese of Joliet has just established a new Deaf Ministry for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Late-Deafened, and Deaf-Blind persons under Catechesis and Evangelization program, with the approval from Bishop Hicks.  The mission of our new Deaf Ministry of the Diocese of Joliet is to welcome and provide religious education and pastoral ministry outreach.

It also includes advocating for Deaf individuals in the Diocese.  The goal is to make every part of the Catholic Faith accessible to the Deaf Community by providing necessary resources to the Deaf and encouraging deaf individuals to participate fully in the sacraments and all aspects of parish and diocesan life.

To accomplish the mission of the Deaf Ministry of the Diocese of Joliet, we want to serve our Deaf People and minister to their spiritual needs by offering the Sacraments, Faith Formation, Bible Study, retreats, and other religious activities conducted in American Sign Language (ASL) through certified diocesan interpreters and priests who are experts in sign language.  Also, we need to provide volunteer opportunities like visiting the sick, feeding the homeless and much more.

If you wish to receive more information about our new Deaf Ministry of the Diocese of Joliet, please contact our Pastoral Outreach Lead, Renata Cichowicz at (815) 221-6245 or rcichowicz@dioceseofjoliet.org.  She will be more than happy to assist you and your parish. 

​See our website at Deaf Ministry - Catechesis and Evangelization - Diocese of Joliet (diojoliet.org)  

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Please take this survey to let us know how our Deaf Ministry is working out for you.  If you have more in-depth comments or suggestions, please email Diana back with any information you'd like to share.